Bloody awful before; bloody awful now

Mastodon have angrily stressed that their dull, thumping hard rock album hasn't been affected by signing to Warners. Apparently it's just it would have sounded even worse if it wasn't on a major, says Bill Kelliher:

"Blood Mountain would be the exact same record it was, no matter what label put it out, except it probably wouldn't sound as good as it does because we'd have had less time in the studio. We made it clear to Warner Bros that we're not a pop-rock band or a group of 19-year-olds who got together to be a supergroup and write hits for the radio. Their response was always that they want Mastodon, nothing else."

It's unlikely Warners would have mistaken the gurning sounds coming off a Mastodon album as those of a pop group. It's surprising they could tell they were meant to be music.